Illuminated sign.



E. J. CILIRGVVUBgv ILLUMINATED SGN. AYPLIGATION FILED 33.18', 1907. RENEWBD, MAR. 15, 1909.A

atented Got. 5,1%9.

CIJ llllll IIJ Ill lll...-

/NVEN TOR .pplicatlon February 1n, l, Ferial No. 855,15?.

vsind ueefnl' linprovement in lllnminated Fsigns, of which the following is :i spez-ification, reference being had to the accoinpnny ingf drawings as constituting a par! hereo.

The object of my invention is to produce en ilhiminnhle sign which will be of ornev nientnl :imiezirsmee viewed in day light, and

whirh will also be eeotive and attractive at night time. The day light nttrm-,ireness or eil'ect is obtained by the unimi color soheine, also by exterior fornmtion of letters; but the night eil'ect is obtained by givin;T to the eign the appearance of being coinposed of hhirzk sign-characters Set out by a halodike luminous` nnirgjin.

To this end my sign oom-iets or n sign box or case within whirh is eontnined the. illu'nii imtion :nenns-elertrie lumps, gne flames, el' f.,--the fare of the sign ense being n solid 'nil oi opaque nulieriul, und {he ligjhl being emitted through such will by slits or perforulions :arranged to ronl'orni lo the contour lines oi' the niemhewA of the letters or ('hzirzu'ters; thev lutter srreeningf the dirert myl of the light :ind musing the, Saune to be diverged und dili'used `m zu; lo he emitted over he outline-nusrgins oi' ille members if the, sign-rlmrurlers in the torni oi n miloT :ind thereby musing the sign-elmrnrer itself lo Hlund oui. :is il', wenn from surh huh like :i silhouette. in other wordl the light rays issuing' from (he interior ot' he sign :use :ire screened by the Sign rhururtm- :1nd reR Slrnined so ns loilnpinge only upon the medial contour linel nl' lhe inn-hs ol'lhe respective menihewl ol the sign ohnrnrters, und the faces of surh buche :1nd oi ihe fsu-e ol the Sign-casema adapted lo relief-, :1nd diffuse the-light rnys ,eo :is io bring uboul, the ellcr described. To ui'inin lhis eil'ert the paris of my Sign :ire .eonslrui'ried und nrrung'ed :is below set forth.

l'n the drnwinlls. Figure l is n perspective o' my :lign :is :i whole, the `two ends beinf represented :is broken zipurr. so that 'the lett end portion nmy represent my sign as it appears in day light :1nd 'lhe right end portion :is it nppeurs in the nighttime; parts of the sign-charnelere. or letters, are flirtlwrtfnore remured und indiouied in broke ouline, so :is to disclose the zursingelnent or" Specca-tion of Retten; Fatemi.

inwinnen-ii exe-1r lntenteil 5, llll.. earch if, i909. m. die perforatione in the fare of the sign case under the sign character; Fig. 2 is n longitudinal section looking into the interior of tl'iesig'n oase through one ofthe performed faces thereof and against the backs of the sign ehnrneers; Fig. 3 is n transverse section of my eign; and Figs, 'l and 5 are (letails of nioiliiefiiions of construction.

Referring now to the reference letters: my sign consists of a reciangular box or case a, in which are placed., at suitable intervals, a series of electric lamps b. These lamps may be placed opposite. to efich other s shown in Fig. 2, or so that the lamps on one side of he Well of the sign-case will come intermediate of the lamps supported by die opposite wall; and 'the number of lamps will depend upon the sine of the letter and the in tensity of 'the light desired. The letters or sign-eluiraers ri are eilixed to the outer face 9'. oi' the sign-ense by short :1n-nis ri. So as to project some distance in irontl :is illustrated, 1Cor example. in Figi'. Following the form or Contour me the members of the letter or sign (-hzirae'er, the face is provided with peri'oirntions, which may eonfsist of slits e, or n series of eontigiious peroralions j. The perfor-afirme in either enge being So arranged :is to he loented along the medial lines of the respective members of the Sign-ehm'- nrters und so that the rays of light emitted there 4lirough will iinpinge onli4v upon the medial lines ol the hack of sueh members; the sign ehnrnetei-n being of such width ihn l1 the nnergrius of the members thereof will ypro jeft Sonie distanre beyond .quell perforulionn. :ind thus .fs-:'reen the direet light rziyfs :1nd direi-gr ihe saune so ns to inipinge upon the fum oi the sign wwe, to he from there pra jerted over the outline-insign of the Signrhnrmler in the forni of n. halo, suhratanlinlly us; depleted in the portion of the sign :it the right, Shown in Fig. 1. ln order to obtziiirbrillinnt eileets it is preferable to Cont the hurl( of the letters or sign-ehm oeterswith n Vreflerting Surface, because if too dark loo much light would be nbnorbed, :ind the laiee i of the sign-ense. Should oe treated in like manner, vfor the sanne purpose.

ln order to establish soule rule by. which the relative. Size of the perforation in the face of the sign-enne und the position of the Sign-Characters covering Such perforn'rions muy be governed. l haw :Heertained that in using, for example, letters of say, six inches in height, the sinne should he placed about 1,-

of an inch Iin front of the face of the signcase and the letters should be made of such width as to cause the margins thereof to project about inch beyond the margin of the slits or perforations; and for each fraction of an inch the sign-character is set farther out from the face of the sign-case, the margins of the slits or perforations should be moved the same distance inward. ln short, the parts of the sign m'ust beso arranged as not to disclose the slits or perforations vwhen viewing the sign from the front, at the usual angles of vision. Furthermore the letters must not be set out too fa r from the face of the sign-case7 and the slits or perforations must be of suffiilient size yto emit ample light.

ln referring to a reflecting surface to be given to the backs of the sign-characters and the tace ot' the case, l meant that the same could be painted white, or otherwise colored with a suitable reflecting pigment. v

The sign-characters can `be made of wood, metal or glass. lVhen made of the latter, the sign-characters would have to be made sufliciently opaque to properly screen the direct light rays and bring about the desired effect.

The exposed' faces ot' the sign-characters and their back ground of case-Wall may be painted to render the same as ornamental as dcsiredin the day time. The backs of the sign-characters may be made flat as represented in the sectional. figure 5, or such backs may he .made `with angular 'faces as representedin Fig. 4, for the purpose of causing a greater divergence of the light-rays emitted through the slits ot the wall a. The cX- terior beveled faces 7L vof the sign-characters seen in Figs. Ll and and representing the letter l, are optional, that is to say7 their object is merely to give an ornamental appearance to' the face ot' the sign-characters when secn in the day light, but not otherwise entering into the scheme ot' my invention.

lt is to be noted that the described illumiuation means in no wise allect the appearance of the sign-chaipufters in day light.

l claim:

1. ln an illuminable sign consisting of a `case, illumination means within the case and escasa a sign character or characters affixed some distance in front of the case-wall, the casewall being perforated along the medial contour lines of the members of the sign-character and the latter covering said perforations so as to cause the light rays impinging on the under side of the sign-characters to be diverted over the margins of its members in the form of a luminous halo.

2. In an illuminable sign, a wall perforated along'the medial contour lines of the members of the sign characters, means for emitting light rays through the perforations, and a sign-character or characters set outover such perforations and arranged to cover the latter, whereby the light rays impinging on the under side of thesign-character are diverted over the margins of its members inthe form of a luminous halo.

3. In an illumina-ble sign, a Wall perforated along the medial contour linesof the members of the sign-characters means for -emitting light rays through the perforations, and a's1gn characteror characters s'et out over such perforations and arranged to cover the latter, the under side of the signcharacter and the -face of the VWall being adapted to reflect the light rays, whereby the light raysimpinging on the under side of the sign-characters are diverted over the margins of its members in the form of a luminous halo.'

4. ln an illuminable sigma wall, perforated along the umedial contour lines of the members of the` sign-character, means for emitting light rays through the perforations and a sign-character or characters set out over such perforations and arranged to cover the same, the under side of the signcharacters being made with reliecting angles, and the tace of the wall being'l made with a reflecting sur-face, whereby the light rays impinging on the under side of the signcharacter are diverted over the n'iargins,of'

its members lin the form of a luminous halo.

EDVARD J. ClllltGlVlN.

lVitnesses:

Z. J. Gnismnz,

hicin Loue, 

